Organisations in Bolton are joining forces to take a stand against hate crime.
The sixth annual Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Week runs from February 5 to 11 and is supported by police, local authorities, communities and other organisations.
It aims to raise awareness of hate crime and how to report it, challenge perceptions and promote tolerance and respect.
Neighbourhood policing teams will be holding hate crime awareness stalls and drop-in sessions across Bolton.
Be Safe, Bolton‘s community safety partnership which includes Bolton Council and Greater Manchester Police, has also given grants totalling £14,000 to ten organisations to hold events during the week or to run longer-term projects.
Bolton Hindus’ Age Inspiration is holding a workshop on how to report hate crime at Vishwa Hindu Parishad Centre, Thomas Holden Street, on Friday, February 9.
Other projects starting during Hate Crime Awareness Week include Crompton Somali Association’s workshops for women who have recently arrived from Somalia; Zac’s Youth Bars running music, dance, fashion and art sessions with young people to explore differences, and Bolton Lads and Girls Club working with 300 young people on various activities.
Bolton Council of Mosques is running workshops for Muslim women facing discrimination; Bolton Pride is working with schools to explore the meaning of the rainbow flag; African Community Association of Bolton is carrying out hate crime surveys: AFC Masters and Bolton Wanderers Disability FC are teaming up to raise awareness of disability hate crime: Bolton Smart Enterprise CIC is running art sessions for young people with disabilities, and Creative Mind and Bank Street Writers are holding creative writing workshops.
A hate incident is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or by someone’s race, religion, colour, nationality, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, lifestyle or dress.
Bolton has 16 third party hate incident reporting centres in local communities where victims or witnesses can report incidents to trained staff without going to the police.
Cllr Derek Burrows, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “Hate crime is totally unacceptable; it destroys lives and divides communities. It has no place in Bolton and we are working with our partners to end it.
“Everyone has the right to feel safe and we hope that this week and the events taking place will raise awareness of hate crime. We are also encouraging people to report hate incidents and Bolton’s hate incident reporting centres are safe places where people can feel confident doing so.”
People are also being urged to sign the on-line Greater Manchester Promise to never stand by if they see someone being abused or attacked because of who they are.
Greater Manchester Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Bev Hughes, added: “We should be rightly proud of how Greater Manchester stands together against those who seek to divide and sticks up for everyone in our region, especially those who face abuse or violence just because of who they are.
“Our voice is stronger if we speak together, which is what makes it so important for people to sign the promise. It sends out a clear message that we stand together.”
Neighbourhood policing teams will be at:
- Bolton One, 1pm to 2pm, February 5
- Morrisons, Blackhorse Street, 10.30am to 1.30pm, February 8
- Bolton University, 11am to 12.30pm, February 8
- Bolton Interchange, 11am to noon, February 9
- Bolton Library, 1pm to 2pm, February 9
- Morrisons, Chorley Old Road, noon to 1pm, February 9
- Bolton Market, 10am to 1pm, February 10
Details of Bolton’s third party hate incident reporting centres can be found at http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/Pages/Hatecrime.aspx#hate
People can also report hate crime at online at https://www.met.police.uk/tv/true-vision-report-hate-crime/ or by calling the police on 101. In an emergency call 999
Sign the Greater Manchester Promise at http://www.letsendhatecrime.com/the-greater-manchester-promise/